Police signal-station.



K. I. WALLACE.

POLICE SIGNAL STATION.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 22. 1914.

Patented May 4, 1915.

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KENNETH J. WALLACE, 0F BROCKTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

POLICE SIGNAL-STATION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Maya, 1915.

Application filed May 22, 1914. Serial No. 849,334.

To all whom z'tmay concern Be it known that I, KENNETH J WAL- LAon,'a citizen of the United States, residing at Brockton, in the county of Plymouth and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Police Signal- Stations, of which the following is a specification This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for use in connection with street signaling systems, used by police or other municip a1. organizations.

More particularly it relates to the construction, contents and connections of posts for street stations for such signalingappa ratus.

The object of the invention is to provide an improved construction of post in which the installing of connections from the wires running through the streets, to whatever particular type of box or signaling head is used on the post, is facilitated, as is also the installation of such head; and the provision of means for the assistance of an oificer. in

holding a prisoner while signaling; and the plished by providing a post with hollow in- Y terior, and lateral openings thereto, and the other characteristics hereinafter set forth; and having within it at a distance below the place provided for the main box, but adapted to be controlled by means located and protected within the main box, one or more hand-cuffs and means for discharging them into position ready for use when said control means protected within the main box is In the accompanying drawin, 2;s one em bodiment of the invention is illustrated, but the invention may be embodied in other forms without departing from the scope of the appended claims; and it is the purpose of the patent to cover by the claims whatever features of patentable novelty exist in the invention disclosed.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a post showing connection to one kind of main box that may be applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary similar elevation, showing the connection to another kind of main box; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side elevation showing the type of V the level of the pavement, and the portion 13, as seen in Fig. 1, or 13' as seen in Fig. 2, whlch is adapted to afford rigid connection and support for the mam box 14: of Fig. 1

or let, Fig. 2. Difiiculty has heretofore been f experienced in installing signal posts in making the connection of wiring between the parts above ground and the mains which are carried in conduits through the street below ground, owing to the difliculty of getting the Wires through the underground part of the base, and up for a distance, which is necessarily several feet, through the part of the post which is above ground. This has been the occasion of much annoyance and expense without any way having been known heretofore to avoid it, so far as I am aware. It is one purpose of the present invention to eliminate this difiiculty, and this is done by providing in the base portion of the post, in the part 11, which is below ground, lateral openings 15 extending vertically, through which the Wires which can be introduced laterally, thus obviating the need of their going down vertically through the bottom 16. it will be understood that the buried portion 11 of the post is open at the top and that the portions 12 and 13 or 13 are also hollow and open at the top and bottom, so that wires can extend up through them all to the cal under portions or necks 17 the same being adapted to fit down into the top of the body or main portion 12 of the post andto be seated in a horizontal position thereon, the top portion being adapted to hold the main box level or horizontal when the box portion is seated horizontally on the rim 17 at the top of the main portion 12 of the post. Bolts 19 and nuts 18, at the top of the main portion 12, or any other suitable fastening may hold the top or terminal piece down securely; and the upper portion of, this piece 13 or 13, whatever may be its shape, hasa central opening seen clearly in Figs. 2 and 8, adapted to register with an opening in the under side of the main box 1 1 or 14: which fits thereon, through which opening the wires may pass. The main portion of the post also serves as a casing and protection for a chain and one or more handcuffs. It is one feature of the invention to combine these with a fastening and self discharging means within the body portion 12 of the post. The square shape of the cross section of this, hollow interior, as shown in Fig. l, affords opportunity for door 20 in one side at a relatively low level, by which several objects are accomplished. One result of this is that the hand-cuffs and their electrical release herein later described can be applied to any signal box, even though the main box, as provided by the makers of the system, contains no provision for hand-cuffs. By thus introducing a hand-cuff chain into the body of the post this essential and convenient aid to an oilicer in the discharge of'his duty is located where it isavailable for effective use, as

contrasted with what it would be if an attempt were made to keep hand-cuffs in the maih box itself, or in a space closed by the same door, even though separate from the main box. It also enables the main box to be made of the same size and arrangements as have become standard, without requiring the use of a new and different box, because the portion of the apparatus that has to be set within the main box, under the combination herein described, occupies so small a space. in the preferred form of the invention the door 20 is opened by a contact making key 21 in the main box, through the actionof current from the regular system, it being only necessary for the officer to touch said key in order to have the chain and hand-cuffs before him in a position of utmost convenience of use. This is accomplished by providing a special lock for the door 20. The lock may take various forms; and that illustrated is to be considered only as one of the ways in which the lock may be constructed. As illustrated, the lock is a bolt 22 sliding in a bearing or guide 23 and in another bearing part of which is'comprised by a yoke 24 covering it and part by a pinion 25, the under side of the bolt having a rack 26 which engages on top of the in Fig. 3 into locking position, by turning the handle 27 and pinion 25, a keeper 28 falls like a latch and holds the door locked This keeper has a head 29 which constitutes an armature for a magnet 30, whose circuit is attached to any suitable source of current, such as the main electrical system, here typified, however, by two cells of battery marked 21, except as it is broken at the key 21. lVhenever the oilicer by simply touching the key 21 closes the circuit at that point, the current acts through the magnet 30, to raise the armature 29, lifting the keeper 28 and releasing the bolt 22 which then is drawn by a. spring 31, whereupon the door 520 flies open under influence of a spring 32, and the hand-cuffs 33, only one being illustrated, that being suilicient to show the construction, is instantly accessible. This handcull" may be attached by a chain'35 to a suitable fastening provided for the purpose at 36 within the interior of the body portion lZof the post, and may rest on a steeply inclined shelf 37, on which it normally slips forward and lies against the closed door, so that upon the opening of the door the handcuff falls out of casing and hangs before the post with a short hitch at an elevation convenient for immediate and effective use.

When the door 20 is closed, the hand-cuff is inaccessible to any one who can not open the main box 1%; and it is undisturbed and unexposed whenever the main box is open under ordinary service conditions, but appears at hand where needed, upon mere pressure of the key 21. V The body portion of the post 12 is provided with two hand holes 15, 15, by which the introduction and connection of wires between the base and the main box at the top is greatly facilitated. By virtue of these holes the wires can be worked up through the shaft 12' after-that position of the post has been set and cemented or otherwise fastened to the base 11, where heretofore it has been necessary, in posts not provided with such holes, to lay the hollow shaft 12 down on its side or to hold it tipped at an incline in order to get the wires in through-the bottom. The protected compartment to which the door 20 gives admission, while primarily designed for quick delivery ofhand-cufis, can be used for other contents if desired.

I claim as my invention:

1. A signaling street station comprising a post adapted to be set in the ground, and a signaling box supported thereon; the said post having a compartment with a door below the signaling box; a hand-cufi with flexible connection fastened within said compartment, below said box; and means to eject the hand-cuff therefrom automatically upon the opening of said door.

2. A signaling street station comprising a post adapted to be set in the ground, a signaling box supported thereon; a compartment below the box, having a door; a handcufl' with flexible connection fastened within said compartment; a lock for said door; and means for releasing said lock, said releasing means having a part located within the signal box, remote from said door, and adapted to be engaged by the operator to release said lock.

3. A signaling street station comprising a post adapted to be set in the ground, and a signaling box supported thereon; the said post being hollow and having a door in its side and a hand-cuff with flexible connec tion fastened within it; a lock for the door in the shaft of the post; an electric circuit controlling said lock; and a key for controlling said circuit, located within the main signaling box.

4:. A signaling street station comprising a post adapted to be set in the ground, and a signaling box supported thereon; there being within a space adapted to hold a hand-cuff and having a bottom steeply inclined forward; a door for said space, adapted when closed to hold said hand-cuif on said inclined bottom, and when open to let it slip out of the space; and a flexible connection fastening the cuff to the post.

5. A signaling street station comprising a post adapted to be set in the ground, and a signaling box supported thereon; the said post being hollow and having a door and lock in its side; interior means to release said lock; an interior connection therefrom to the interior of the signal box; and means within the signal box remote from said door and lock for engagement by the operator to actuate said lock-releasing means.

6. A post for a signaling street station, comprising a part adapted to be set in the ground, a shaft rising from the ground and having a hollow upper portion with a door in its side; a hand-cuff with flexible 'connection fastened within said hollow; a lock for said door; a support adapted to rest in the top of the shaft and having a top adapted to fit the particular type of signaling box, the said shafts top being adaptedto receive supports whose bases are similar and whose tops are shaped diversely to receive various types of signal boxes; and means for releasin said doorlock, adapted to extend through the said support and said signaling box and having a part located within the signaling box, remote from said door and adapted to be engaged by the operator to actuate the lock-release.

Signed by me at Boston, Mass, this 8th day of May, 1914:.

KENNETH J. WALLACE.

Witnesses:

EVERETT E. KENT, JosEPH T. BRENNAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

